Alex J. Mandl (December 14, 1943 - March 25, 2022) was a notable Austrian-American businessman. He was the Executive Chairman of

smart card A smart card, chip card, or integrated circuit card (ICC or IC card) is a physical electronic authentication device, used to control access to a resource. It is typically a plastic credit card-sized card with an embedded integrated circuit (IC) c ...

giant

Gemalto Gemalto was an international digital security company providing software applications, secure personal devices such as smart cards and tokens, and managed services. It was formed in June 2006 by the merger of two companies, Axalto and Gemplus In ...

. He had been named "One of America's Most Powerful Businessmen" by Forbes magazine.

Early life

Born in Austria, Mandl moved to the United States with his father Otto in the 1950s after his parents divorced. Alex attended Happy Valley School (now known as

Besant Hill School Besant Hill School of Happy Valley, formerly the Happy Valley School, is an American private, coeducational boarding school and day school in Ojai, California. The school has approximately 100 students and about 35 faculty and staff, all of wh ...

of Happy Valley), where his father was the headmaster in the town of

Ojai, California Ojai ( ; Chumash: ''’Awhaỳ'') is a city in Ventura County, California. Located in the Ojai Valley, it is northwest of Los Angeles and east of Santa Barbara. The valley is part of the east–west trending Western Transverse Ranges and is ...

. After high school he attended

Willamette University Willamette University is a private liberal arts college with locations in Salem and Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest college in the Western United States. Originally named the Oregon Institute, the school was an unaffiliated ...

Salem, Oregon Salem ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County, Oregon, Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river ...

, where his father took a teaching position. Alex Mandl received a degree in economics at the small liberal arts school. He then enrolled at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

where he earned a

Masters in Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

in the late 1960s.Keller, John J. Tough Newcomer: Alex Mandl Is Crafting Aggressive Strategy For Future of AT&T --- His `Fat Minutes' Campaign Is Plumping Up Profits With a Slimmer Staff --- Loading the Digital Pipeline. ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', December 16, 1994. pg. A.1.

Career

Mandl began working for Boise Cascade Corporation after college, remaining there for 11 years. He followed that by working at

CSX Corporation CSX Corporation is an American holding company focused on rail transportation and real estate in North America, among other industries. The company was established in 1980 as part of the Chessie System and Seaboard Coast Line Industries merger. T ...

and Sea-Land Services, Inc. in the 1980s. Mandl began working at AT&T in August 1991 as chief financial officer. In that position,

Joseph Nacchio Joseph P. Nacchio (born June 22, 1949 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American executive who was chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Qwest Communications International from 1997 to 2002. Nacchio was convicted of insider trading during ...

was one of his top subordinates. Mandl was a key player in AT&T's purchase of a stake in

McCaw Cellular McCaw Cellular Communications was a cellular telephone pioneer in the United States. Savvy licensing of cellular spectrum in the early 1980s put McCaw Cellular in an extremely strong position, quickly outpacing the growth of the "Baby Bells" in t ...

in 1992. He left AT&T in 1996 to become CEO of Teligent, Inc.

Positions held

* 1969 –

Boise Cascade Boise Cascade Company (), which uses the trade name Boise Cascade, is a North American manufacturer of wood products and wholesale distributor of building materials, headquartered in Boise, Idaho. with sales over $7.9 billion in 2021, it is trad ...

Corporation, mergers and acquisition analyst * 1969 - 1980 – "various financial positions", according to his bio at Gemalto. * 1980 –

Seaboard Coast Line Industries Seaboard Coast Line Industries, Inc., incorporated in Delaware on May 9, 1969, was a railroad holding company that owned the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad, its subsidiary Louisville and Nashville Railroad, and several smaller carriers. Its railroad ...

, SVP and CFO. * 1987 - 1991 – Chairman and CEO of

Sea-Land Service, Inc SeaLand, a division of the Maersk Group, is an American intra-regional container shipping company headquartered in Miramar, Florida with representation in 29 countries across the Americas. The company offers ocean and intermodal services using ...

. * 1991 - 1996 – CFO, then President & COO, AT&T. * 1996 - 2001 – Chairman and CEO, Teligent. * 1999 - 2002 – Board of Directors at

In-Q-Tel In-Q-Tel (IQT), formerly Peleus and In-Q-It, is an American not-for-profit venture capital firm based in Arlington, Virginia. It invests in high-tech companies to keep the Central Intelligence Agency, and other intelligence agencies, equipped with ...

(resigned to take position at Gemplus.) * April 2001 - August 2002 – ASM Investments, principal. * September 2002 - June 2006 –

Gemplus International Gemalto was an international digital security company providing software applications, secure personal devices such as smart cards and tokens, and managed services. It was formed in June 2006 by the merger of two companies, Axalto and Gemplus I ...

, CEO. * June 2, 2006 – present –

, Executive Chairman.

Other affiliations

* Board member of Dell, Haas School of Business, Willamette University, UC Berkeley, and the

American Enterprise Institute The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, known simply as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), is a center-right Washington, D.C.–based think tank that researches government, politics, economics, and social welfare. ...

. He has also previously served on the boards of AT+T,

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfizer ...

and Warner-Lambert. * Mandl has also been affiliated with General Semiconductor, Associated Communications, Omnisky, others.

References

1943 births Living people American computer businesspeople American financial businesspeople American technology chief executives Austrian emigrants to the United States Haas School of Business alumni Willamette University alumni 20th-century American businesspeople {{US-business-bio-1940s-stub